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    The Ur-Dragon
    Commander Guide

    The Ur-Dragon Commander Deck Guide

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    The Ur-Dragon discounts your other Dragon spells and turns Dragon attacks into cards and a permanent from your hand.

    Last updated: October 20262 min read

    What The Ur-Dragon does

    The Ur-Dragon discounts your other Dragon spells and turns Dragon attacks into cards and a permanent from your hand.

    Eminence works from the command zone or battlefield, reducing the generic cost of each other Dragon spell you cast by one. That lets you develop your board without first paying your commander's nine-mana cost, though you'll still need the right colors. Once The Ur-Dragon is on the battlefield, attacking with Dragons draws a card for each attacking Dragon, then lets you put one permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield. You don't need to connect in combat to get that value, and the permanent doesn't have to be a Dragon.

    The appeal is getting rewarded for the creatures you already want to attack with while turning a stocked hand into more board presence. The supplied lists offer different support packages, but neither presents a developed Dragon lineup; treat them as starting points rather than finished Dragon-focused builds.

    How The Ur-Dragon plays

    Early on, prioritize land drops, acceleration, and access to all five colors. Chromatic Lantern helps with color requirements, while Arcane Signet supplies any color in your commander's identity. Eminence discounts other Dragon spells without requiring you to cast your commander.

    In the midgame, build a board while keeping interaction available. Negate answers noncreature spells, and Putrefy handles an artifact or creature. With a developed Dragon package, Kindred Discovery rewards both creatures entering and attacks.

    The intended finish is repeated Dragon combat. Once The Ur-Dragon resolves, each attack can refill your hand and add a permanent. Swiftfoot Boots gives it haste and hexproof, helping you get an attack before passing the turn.

    Build The Ur-Dragon from your collection

    The builder starts with The Ur-Dragon as your commander and fills the 99 from cards you own.

    Build The Ur-Dragon from your collection

    Key staples

    Synergy pieces

    • Skyshroud Claim

      Skyshroud Claim

      Finds up to two Forest cards and puts them onto the battlefield, building your mana toward expensive threats.

    • Sun Titan

      Sun Titan

      Returns a permanent with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard when it enters or attacks, recovering smaller support pieces.

    • Rakdos Charm

      Rakdos Charm

      Offers graveyard exile, artifact destruction, or damage to each player from their own creatures, depending on what the table demands.

    • Reclamation Sage

      Reclamation Sage

      Can destroy an artifact or enchantment when it enters, giving you interaction attached to a creature.

    • Bastion of Remembrance

      Bastion of Remembrance

      Creates a Soldier and drains each opponent when your creatures die, providing attrition value rather than direct Dragon synergy.

    • Kindred Discovery

      Kindred Discovery

      Choose Dragon to draw whenever one of your Dragons enters or attacks, provided you build enough Dragon density to support it.

    • Putrefy

      Putrefy

      Destroys a target artifact or creature and prevents regeneration, covering two common kinds of threats.

    Staples in these colors

    • Negate

      Negate

      Counters a noncreature spell, letting you contest removal or other noncreature threats.

    • Chromatic Lantern

      Chromatic Lantern

      Makes your lands tap for any color and supplies another mana itself, easing the commander's five-color requirements.

    • Sol Ring

      Sol Ring

      Supplies two colorless mana toward generic costs, but doesn't cover any of your commander's five colored symbols.

    • Arcane Signet

      Arcane Signet

      Taps for any of your commander's five colors, supporting whichever colored requirement you're missing.

    • Swiftfoot Boots

      Swiftfoot Boots

      Gives the equipped creature hexproof and haste, protecting a key attacker from opponents' targeted effects and letting it attack immediately.

    Card images and card data courtesy of Scryfall. Magic: The Gathering is © Wizards of the Coast. ManaBuilder is unaffiliated with Wizards of the Coast.

    The numbers

    • 7 Draw
    • 18 Ramp
    • 37 Lands
    • 19 Theme
    • 2 Wipes
    • 16 Removal
    • 1 Commander

    Draw

    Count
    7

    Ramp

    Count
    18

    Lands

    Count
    37

    Theme

    Count
    19

    Wipes

    Count
    2

    Removal

    Count
    16

    Commander

    Count
    1

    Reference build for The Ur-Dragon: 100 cards including the commander.

    Sample decks

    Budget build (~$65)

    The budget list is better approached as a five-color support shell than a finished Dragon deck. Prioritize Chromatic Lantern to make your lands cover your colored costs. Reclamation Sage and Putrefy answer troublesome permanents, while Rakdos Charm gives you a choice between graveyard interaction, artifact removal, and punishing crowded creature boards. Sun Titan can recover smaller permanents, including Reclamation Sage for another entrance trigger. Bastion of Remembrance adds life-loss value when your creatures die, but it doesn't advance the commander's attack trigger directly. Keep Negate available when protecting your board matters, and develop the Dragon package before expecting consistent commander-driven attacks.

    Decklist · 100 cards

    Commander (1)

    • 1 The Ur-Dragon

    Creatures (14)

    • 1 Steel Hellkite
    • 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
    • 1 Wood Elves
    • 1 Timeless Witness
    • 1 Sun Titan
    • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
    • 1 Llanowar Elves
    • 1 Rampaging Baloths
    • 1 Reclamation Sage
    • 1 Forgotten Ancient
    • 1 Mayhem Devil
    • 1 Stitcher's Supplier
    • 1 Accursed Marauder
    • 1 Loyal Apprentice

    Artifacts (9)

    • 1 Chromatic Lantern
    • 1 Commander's Sphere
    • 1 Mind Stone
    • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
    • 1 Talisman of Progress
    • 1 Talisman of Conviction
    • 1 Dimir Signet
    • 1 Rakdos Signet
    • 1 Izzet Signet

    Sorceries (13)

    • 1 Explosive Vegetation
    • 1 Migration Path
    • 1 Explore
    • 1 Decimate
    • 1 Vanquish the Horde
    • 1 Cleansing Nova
    • 1 Harmonize
    • 1 Night's Whisper
    • 1 Read the Bones
    • 1 Expressive Iteration
    • 1 Austere Command
    • 1 Feed the Swarm
    • 1 Faithless Looting

    Instants (23)

    • 1 Growth Spiral
    • 1 Harrow
    • 1 Stroke of Midnight
    • 1 Terminate
    • 1 Tear Asunder
    • 1 Bedevil
    • 1 Fact or Fiction
    • 1 Dig Through Time
    • 1 Brainsurge
    • 1 Negate
    • 1 Abrade
    • 1 Infernal Grasp
    • 1 Reality Shift
    • 1 Rakdos Charm
    • 1 Putrefy
    • 1 Snakeskin Veil
    • 1 Despark
    • 1 Village Rites
    • 1 Dispatch
    • 1 Fog
    • 1 Deadly Dispute
    • 1 Big Score
    • 1 Dramatic Reversal

    Lands (37)

    • 1 Command Tower
    • 1 Path of Ancestry
    • 1 Exotic Orchard
    • 1 Secluded Courtyard
    • 1 Unclaimed Territory
    • 1 Evolving Wilds
    • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
    • 1 Myriad Landscape
    • 1 Kessig Wolf Run
    • 1 Frontier Bivouac
    • 1 Jungle Shrine
    • 1 Savage Lands
    • 1 Opulent Palace
    • 1 Crumbling Necropolis
    • 1 Sandsteppe Citadel
    • 1 Mystic Monastery
    • 1 Nomad Outpost
    • 1 Seaside Citadel
    • 1 Cinder Glade
    • 1 Canopy Vista
    • 1 Prairie Stream
    • 1 Sunken Hollow
    • 2 Plains
    • 1 Island
    • 1 Swamp
    • 3 Mountain
    • 2 Forest
    • 1 Demolition Field
    • 1 Sulfur Falls
    • 1 Clifftop Retreat
    • 1 Temple of the False God
    • 1 Glacial Fortress
    • 1 Isolated Chapel

    Enchantments (3)

    • 1 Bastion of Remembrance
    • 1 Intangible Virtue
    • 1 Aqueous Form
    Build this from your collection

    Upgraded build (~$491)

    The upgraded list gives you a clearer mana-and-protection foundation. Sol Ring covers generic costs, Arcane Signet supplies colored mana, and Chromatic Lantern helps your lands meet five-color requirements. Skyshroud Claim adds up to two Forest cards to the battlefield. Swiftfoot Boots can give The Ur-Dragon haste and hexproof; budget the equip payment into the turn you cast it. Kindred Discovery is the clearest incentive to increase Dragon density, rewarding both entrances and attacks. As supplied, this is still a support-heavy starting point. Focus future changes on creatures that use Eminence and sustain Dragon attacks rather than adding more disconnected support.

    Decklist · 100 cards

    Commander (1)

    • 1 The Ur-Dragon

    Creatures (13)

    • 1 Birds of Paradise
    • 1 Bloom Tender
    • 1 Faeburrow Elder
    • 1 Ignoble Hierarch
    • 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
    • 1 Fanatic of Rhonas
    • 1 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
    • 1 Eternal Witness
    • 1 Faerie Mastermind
    • 1 Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
    • 1 Walking Ballista
    • 1 Blood Artist
    • 1 Mirkwood Bats

    Artifacts (9)

    • 1 Sol Ring
    • 1 Arcane Signet
    • 1 Fellwar Stone
    • 1 Chromatic Lantern
    • 1 Herald's Horn
    • 1 Patchwork Banner
    • 1 Lightning Greaves
    • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
    • 1 Thought Vessel

    Sorceries (11)

    • 1 Farseek
    • 1 Nature's Lore
    • 1 Three Visits
    • 1 Cultivate
    • 1 Kodama's Reach
    • 1 Skyshroud Claim
    • 1 Toxic Deluge
    • 1 Blasphemous Act
    • 1 Reanimate
    • 1 Victimize
    • 1 Rampant Growth

    Enchantments (11)

    • 1 Mystic Remora
    • 1 Kindred Discovery
    • 1 Garruk's Uprising
    • 1 Elemental Bond
    • 1 Guardian Project
    • 1 Black Market Connections
    • 1 Rhythm of the Wild
    • 1 Propaganda
    • 1 Ghostly Prison
    • 1 Hardened Scales
    • 1 Wild Growth

    Instants (18)

    • 1 Swords to Plowshares
    • 1 Path to Exile
    • 1 Assassin's Trophy
    • 1 Anguished Unmaking
    • 1 Beast Within
    • 1 Counterspell
    • 1 Swan Song
    • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
    • 1 Dovin's Veto
    • 1 Boros Charm
    • 1 Lightning Bolt
    • 1 Pongify
    • 1 Mental Misstep
    • 1 Rapid Hybridization
    • 1 Arcane Denial
    • 1 Flawless Maneuver
    • 1 Akroma's Will
    • 1 Negate

    Lands (37)

    • 1 Unclaimed Territory
    • 1 Plaza of Heroes
    • 1 Reflecting Pool
    • 1 Flooded Strand
    • 1 Windswept Heath
    • 1 Breeding Pool
    • 1 Godless Shrine
    • 1 Hallowed Fountain
    • 1 Overgrown Tomb
    • 1 Sacred Foundry
    • 1 Steam Vents
    • 1 Stomping Ground
    • 1 Temple Garden
    • 1 Watery Grave
    • 1 Blood Crypt
    • 1 Ketria Triome
    • 1 Zagoth Triome
    • 3 Plains
    • 2 Island
    • 2 Swamp
    • 2 Mountain
    • 2 Forest
    • 1 Command Tower
    • 1 Exotic Orchard
    • 1 Reliquary Tower
    • 1 Path of Ancestry
    • 1 Rogue's Passage
    • 1 Evolving Wilds
    • 1 Bojuka Bog
    • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
    • 1 Myriad Landscape
    Build this from your collection

    The Ur-Dragon FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Yes. Its discount works while The Ur-Dragon is in the command zone or on the battlefield. It reduces only generic mana costs, not colored requirements.
    No. Eminence says “other Dragon spells,” so it doesn't reduce The Ur-Dragon's own cost.
    No. Only Eminence explicitly works from the command zone. The attack-triggered ability requires The Ur-Dragon to be on the battlefield, though it doesn't have to attack itself.
    One per resolution of the attack trigger, regardless of how many Dragons attacked. You draw that many cards first, so you can choose a permanent you just drew. It doesn't have to be a Dragon, and it can be a land.
    Not as presented. They provide support cards, but neither has a developed Dragon package to consistently exploit Eminence and Dragon attack triggers. Treat the reference quotas as role targets rather than proof that the lists already support the commander; individual cards can also fill more than one role.

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